I have a 2012 520d with nav pro.
All Connected drive connections run through edge SIM card. On newer models, this SIM card is now 3G: Any one Knows if the upgrade is possible? Internet and email are so slow through edge connections.....
Tranks for the feedback!

I could be wrong but I thought the 3G sim was for cars with the new nav system introduced in the second half of this year.
Give how patchy 3G reception can be* , I ownder how much of an advtanage that actually turns ot to be?

* (I'm going by my blackberry coverage into London on the train every day!)

I could be wrong but I thought the 3G sim was for cars with the new nav system introduced in the second half of this year.
Give how patchy 3G reception can be* , I ownder how much of an advtanage that actually turns ot to be?

* (I'm going by my blackberry coverage into London on the train every day!)

You are correct, the 3G SIM is standard for the new Nav introduced this summer. Which means the older system in the 2012s would probably need a lot of modification, if such a thing was at all possible.

The original poster may be better served by holding out for a complete "new" Nav retrofit, should some third party offer it, in the upcoming years.

We have excellent 3G coverage here, and pretty decent LTE coverage as well. It is is not uncommon for me to hit 40Mpbs+ on downloads via my iPhone 5!

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2016 M3 - on order for October 19th European Delivery
2013 ActiveHybrid 3 - sold
2012 M3 coupe - sold

How can we change / insert a new SIM in the integrated Combox of the NBT? For NBT retrofit, how can we enable connected drive services such as remote access?

You can't

The car has something called an Intelligent Soft SIM which is actually software not hardware so unlike the SIM you have in your mobile phone, you can't just swap it out.

In theory a Soft SIM can work on any network if the network itself supports it however right now, all SIMs in all BMWs in all countries are provided by one supplier (the same applies for Audi, Jaguar LandRover, Fiat and others) and you would need to get BMW to get them to make the change (not going to happen)

As for the upgrade to 3G, this is dictated by the GSM hardware in the car and not the SIM card in use

The car has something called an Intelligent Soft SIM which is actually software not hardware so unlike the SIM you have in your mobile phone, you can't just swap it out.

In theory a Soft SIM can work on any network if the network itself supports it however right now, all SIMs in all BMWs in all countries are provided by one supplier (the same applies for Audi, Jaguar LandRover, Fiat and others) and you would need to get BMW to get them to make the change (not going to happen)

As for the upgrade to 3G, this is dictated by the GSM hardware in the car and not the SIM card in use

Does that mean even if I have the connected drive services I cannot change to the High speed service from Edge to 3G? I have a free 3 year subscription on a aug 2010 car with professional sat nav.

I know it's an old thread, but anyone aware, if the 3G sim can be updated to 4g, as it's not an actual sim, and just a bit of software?

It's nothing to do with the SIM. It's the radio hardware that would need to be upgraded. Audi are certainly now fitting 4G radio hardware into all their new models so one would assume BMW will also be following suit however I can't see any reason for a retro fit.